Only three dozen?

Utah State Senator Chris Buttars had a big hand in killing all five of the recent gay friendly bills. These bills were introduced because the Mormon Church said it valued gays, it just didn't like using the word marriage to describe gay relationships. Buttars, a Mormon bishop, proved the lie of that claim. In the process he claimed gays were terrorists and the greatest threat to America. He did it in a rather ugly manner.

That didn't sit well with the senate GOP leadership. The GOP holds about 2/3 of the senate seats. Buttars was stripped of committee chairmanships. But, it wasn't because of what Buttars said -- they all agree with him -- but because Buttars demonstrated they're all bigots. Besides, he had been known to be inflammatory and had agreed not to talk about gays. Losing those chairmanships wasn't punishment because it allows Buttars to speak more freely. Democrats are outraged that Buttars still leads two other committees.

Robert Kirby of the Salt Lake Tribune takes on Buttars claim that gays are terrorists. His editorial is delightfully humorous. An excerpt:

I consider myself one of the most intolerant people I know, but gays aren't even on my "Top 500 People Whose Guts I Hate" list. I checked it this morning.

The same kinds of claims were trotted out when women were given the right to vote and blacks were given civil rights. Sky falling? We're not even wearing hardhats.

Kirby ends with:

With even a casual glance at our history, it's easy to see that the America people feared seeing destroyed has always been an outdated version that catered almost entirely to them.

In addition to not believing Fundies when they say they are only protecting marriage we don't believe them when they say they don't hate us. Hawaii (as I noted before) has an amendment that says the legislature doesn't have to offer gay marriage (but can if it wants to). A bill before the state senate Judiciary Committee would offer civil-unions. The vote is so close there is talk of bypassing the committee and presenting the bill before the full senate. This, naturally, prompted demonstrations for both sides of the issue. Here is the story of one person demonstrating for civil unions and the treatment she got from those opposed. It was most definitely not the case of, Well, dearie, we may disagree on this issue, but I love you well enough that I'll drive you home to make sure you arrive safely. Another hint?

You know, it gets really tiresome to be called diseased and a pedophile and a rapist and an abomination and a threat to America three dozen times in one day.